Destruction of objects

[Michael Søndergaard]

I can't seem to figure this one out.

I have a list of objects containing objects like A, B, C. I also have
another object D which referer object A.
At some point in my code I need to delete the reference to object A in obj
D, so I do this D.A = null;

The question is does this only delete the reference to A or does it also
delete the object by invoking the destructor of object A. Or am I saved by
the fact, that a reference still exists to object A, because it is contained
in the list object.

Thanks
Michael Søndergaard

 

[Michael Søndergaard]

Thanks alot, that cleared some things, but then you might answer me this.

If D reference A and I set A = null, would that mean D becomes null or A
becomes null and D points to the original A, which doesn't get GC?

Michael Søndergaard

 

[Scott]

Michael Mayer,
Thanks for the balloon analogy. I have never heard it before, and
even though I kinda understood the gc, this makes it a bit, well,
cooler.

Scott